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eISSN: 2083-5906
ISSN: 1230-1485
ISSN: 1230-1485
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Study on Influencing Factors of Cadmium
Accumulation in Wheat and Soil Risk Threshold
in Karst Geogenic High-Background Areas
1
College of Agriculture, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
2
Key Laboratory of Karst Georesources and Environment of the Ministry of Education, Guizhou University, Guiyang
550025, China
3
College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China
4
The People's Government of Baixing Town, Nayong County, Bijie 551700, China
5
Guizhou Provincial Agricultural Resources and Environment Management Station, Guiyang 550025, China
Submission date: 2025-10-21
Final revision date: 2025-12-03
Acceptance date: 2026-01-05
Online publication date: 2026-04-29
Corresponding author
Hongyan Liu
College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, College of Agriculture, Guizhou University, Huaxi District, Guiyang, Guizhou province, 550025, Guiyang, China
College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, College of Agriculture, Guizhou University, Huaxi District, Guiyang, Guizhou province, 550025, Guiyang, China
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Wheat is the most widely cultivated food crop globally and is susceptible to the accumulation
of cadmium (Cd). The risk screening value for soil Cd concerning wheat as specified in the national
standard of China (“Safety thresholds of Cd, Pb, Cr, Hg, As in soil for wheat production”, GB/T 41685-
2022) is lower than the national standard (“Soil environmental quality - Risk control standard for soil
contamination of agricultural land”, GB 15618-2018) in China. However, its applicability in karst regions
with high geogenic backgrounds remains uncertain. This study focuses on 3 counties in the karst core
of southwest China: HZ (heavily polluted), DF (moderately polluted), and NY (unpolluted). A total of
203 paired soil–wheat samples were collected to determine the concentrations of Cd, Hg, As, Pb, and
Cr, examine the factors influencing wheat Cd accumulation, and derive soil Cd risk thresholds. Results
showed that 54.67% of wheat samples exceeded the food limit for Cd, with exceedance rates of 84.49%,
64.44%, and 26.14% in HZ, DF, and NY, respectively. Wheat Cd is extremely negatively correlated with
pH, with a correlation coefficient of -0.24 (p<0.01). In NY County, wheat Cd was strongly correlated
with soil Cd (p<0.01), whereas this relationship was weaker in polluted areas. The variety Fengyou 5
exhibited low Cd accumulation (BCF = 0.105). The soil Cd risk thresholds were estimated at 0.28, 0.13,
and 0.45 mg·kg⁻¹ for HZ, DF, and NY, respectively. Overall, soil Cd content and pH were identified
as the key factors regulating wheat Cd accumulation. We should pay more attention to controlling Cd accumulation in polluted areas, and planting low-Cd varieties could ensure safe production in unpolluted
karst high-background regions.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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| eISSN: | 2083-5906 |
| ISSN: | 1230-1485 |
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